No. 15 Iowa sends Illini to seventh straight loss

CHAMPAIGN — Despite the Illini’s best effort in weeks, they lost their seventh consecutive game Saturday, losing to the Iowa 81-74.

By Jamal CollierCorrespondent

CHAMPAIGN — The Big Ten Conference has been unpredictable this year. A team will look dominant one night and then vulnerable the next. If truly anything could happen in the Big Ten, then possibly the Illinois basketball team could pull off the upset at home over No. 15 Iowa.

Despite the Illini’s best effort in weeks, they lost their seventh consecutive game Saturday, losing to the Hawkeyes 81-74.

“They all hurt,” said junior guard Tracy Abrams, who finished with 11 points.

Coach John Groce added: “That one stings just because of how hard our guys played. I don’t think I have ever been more proud of our toughness and togetherness in a loss since I’ve been coaching for six years as a head coach.”

Yet Groce seemed bothered as he sat during his postgame press conference.

“I was ticked off. People were booing,” he said. “I don’t like that. You can go after me but don’t touch my guys.”

The boos came when the Hawkeyes opened up a 21-point lead in the first half and the crowd of 16,618 grew restless. The Illini were not in a rhythm on offense, could not keep up with transition defense and were owned on the boards.

Then, seemingly out of nowhere Illinois woke from its slumber and stormed back for a 21-4 run and cut the halftime deficit to just 40-36.

When the Illini battled all the way back to tie the game at 49, the place erupted. The two teams traded baskets for the next stretch of the game. Each time Iowa would score and Illinois would answer until the score was tied at 59. A 3-pointer by Abrams gave the Illini their first lead since 2-0, and the crowd became deafening. The Illini would score on 24 of 29 possessions despite putrid offense being much of the reason for this losing streak.

They would build the lead to as many as five points, thanks to Joseph Bertrand — who led all scorers with 20 points — and some clutch plays from the freshmen off the bench. Kendrick Nunn and Malcolm Hill each scored seven points and combined for five assists.

“Our togetherness changed,” Abrams said. “We understood that we have to keep fighting and keep grinding each possession.”

Down the stretch Groce decided to stick with his veterans, including forward Jon Ekey despite the fact that he was suffering from cramps in his leg that caused him to airball a couple shots. While Groce admitted he erred in his judgement with Ekey, he did not apologize for staying with his staters down the stretch, saying “I’m sticking with those guys.”

The Illini had owned this series at home. The loss snapped an 11-game winning streak against the Hawkeyes and marked only the second win for Iowa in Champaign during the past 24 games.

Illinois has now dropped seven consecutive games for the first time since 1999, when they finished 3-13 in the Big Ten. A loss at home against scuffling Wisconsin on Tuesday would mean the program’s longest losing streak in 40 years.

But for the first time in a while, the Illini have some positives to take away from another loss. This would have tied the Illini’s biggest comeback victory at home in program history.

“How many teams down 21, after being what we’ve been through, would came back against a nationally ranked team?” said Groce. “Not many.”